When Kyle turned 30 he wanted to do something special to mark leaving behind the angst of youth. For some silly reason he decided to build a cardboard viking ship and burn it to mark the end of his youth, and the start of adulthood.
From that flowed the idea of building a larger viking ship, filling it with note cards of people's regrets in life and burning the whole thing. Many people find it therapeutic to write down their regrets. The author Wendell Berry used to host an annual gathering at his farm where after dinner everyone was asked to write about things that they regretted or made them sad, and come forward and toss them in a bonfire.
Kyle invited submissions, setting a goal of 10,000 cards. That is a lot of regrets he hoped he could help people let go of. He gathered cards at speaking events, had them mailed to him, and set up a website where people could submit things they wanted to let go of. He read them all, broke them into categories, such as fears. One quote from the book, "the cave you fear to enter, contains the treasure you seek." There is even a chapter in regerts, or no regerts.
In the end the boat was about 16 feet tall and over 30 feet long, made of cardboard over a wood frame. It took over two years to finish with some odd starts and stops. It contained over 21,000 regrets, when it was burned. Symbolically letting go of fears, beliefs, and past mistakes.
It was a good book. I know I tend to be a bit of a Hippy in my outlook on life. Reading things like this helps me to feed my mind with positive thoughts.
Regrets, I have a few,
Do you have regrets you should let go of.
I did what I had to do
ReplyDeleteAnd saw it through without exemption
Memorable lyrics from the bard of his generation.
DeleteI don't dwell on regrets because that seems too much like living in the past and what if-ing yourself into madness.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying those thoughts don't creep forward in my head from time-to-time, but I try not to dwell on them.
At times I have had to resist the coulda, woulda, shouldas.
DeleteBut sometimes the things I did that I might regret can lead to things that were good in my life so without the things I regretted, I might never have gotten to where I am. Does that make sense?
ReplyDeleteVery much, I try not to let the burdens of the past, weigh down today.
DeleteI think we all do! I've done a pretty good job of letting them go.
ReplyDeleteLetting go of the past, seems to be easier, as I get older.
DeleteThe cuts and bruises of life are part of what makes us who we are. Yes, there are things that I wished that I had done differently, however, I think that to some extent those "mistakes" were essential to my survival in that place and time and opened up other paths.
ReplyDeleteWill Jay
As long as the past does not weigh us down today.
Delete